Friction shock-absorbing mechanism



J. F. OCONNOR.

FRICTION SHOCK ABSORBING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED M^R.25| 1920. 19386,?@5 Patented Aug. 9, H2L

2 SHEEYS-SHEET 2.

JOI-IN F. OCONNOR, OF'CI-IICAGO, ILLINQIS, ASSIGNOR T0 WILLIAM H. IVIINER, OF CI-IAZY, NEW YORK.

FRICTION SHOCK-ABSORBING MECHANISIVI.

Application filed March 25, 1920.

a friction shock absorbing mechanism more particularly adapted for railway draft riggings and wherein is obtained high fric' tional capacity and large wearing areas.

Another object of my invention is to provide a friction shock absorbing mechanism consisting of relatively few friction elements proper and each of which'may be made in the form of a casting and wherein a greater number and greater area of cooperating sets of friction faces is obtained than heretofore in any friction shock absorbing mechanism employing a similar number of parts.

The invention furthermore consists in the improvements in the parts and devices and in the novel combinations of the parts and devices herein shown, descrilied and made the sub-ject matter of claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a longitudinal, horizontal sectional view of a portion of a railway draft rigging', showing my improvements in connection therewith, the position of the parts corresponding to the full release or normal condition of the mechanism. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating the position assumed by the parts at the end of the compressive stroke. And Fig. i

4 is a View corresponding to F 1 illustrating a somewhat different embodiment of the invention.

In said drawing, and referring iirst to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, 1010 denote channel shaped center or draft sills of a. railway car to the inner faces of which are secured front stop llugs 11 and rear stop lugs 12. its will be understood by those skilled in the art,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

Serial No. 368,671.

any one of a number of well known stopacting means may be employed to'perform the function of the said lugs 11 and 12. A portion of a drawbar shank is indicated at 13, the samebeing operatively connected to the shock absorbing mechanism proper by a yoke 14 of well known. form.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a front combined follower and wedge A; a rear combined follower and wedge B; two friction shoes C and D; laterally movable friction members E and F5 a pair of longi tudinally staggered transversely extending bolts G and H; and sp-ringsI-I mounted on said bolts. f

In actual practice, each memberA and B will have the follower and wedge thereof cast integrally in the interests of economy, although, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the spirit of the invention would not be departed from if the wedges were formed as elements separate from the followers proper. As shown, the members A and B are of like construction and each includes a follower proper and a wedge on its inner face, said wedge having a friction face 15 extending at a relatively acute angle with respect to the center line of ydraft and a second friction face 16 extending at a relatively blunter angle with respect to the center line of draft. The result of the formation of the friction wedgije faces 15 and 16, as above described, is to render the wedge unsymmetrical with respect to the center line of draft, that is, the intersection of the faces 15 and 16 will beto one side of the longitudinal center of the mechanism. As clearly shown in Fig. 1, the members A and B are oppositely arranged, that is, the apex of one wedge is on one side of the longitudinal center line and the apex of the other wedge 'on the opposite side of the longitudinal center line of the mechanism.

The shoes C and D are ofA like construction, preferably in the form of castings, and each is provided with a friction face 116 at one end and another friction face 115 at the opposite end, the same being adapted to engage and coperate with the friction facesr 16 and 15, respectively, of the end members A and B. In addition, the friction shoes C and D are Vprovided at points intermediate the members A and .B with Pair Of @0510er ating sets of friction faces 17 and 117. The shoes C and D are furthermore providedon their outer sides with fiat longitudinallyy eX- tending friction faces 18-18 adapted to, co-

operate with corresponding longitudinally extending friction faces 11S- 118 on the inner sides of the. friction .members E and F.

The friction members E and F are of similar construction, preferably in the form of castings, and eac-h has an inner flangelike section 19 adapted to provide for' the friction faces 1195 and an outwardly extended substantially rectangular heavy boss 20 which passes through a corresponding opening .in the draft sill and through a 'reinforcing .and guiding casting A2l secured to the outer side of thefdraft sill. With this construction, it islevi'dent that the friction'members E and F, while permittedlateral movement `horizontally, are restricted br prevented from 'moving llengthwise of the sills.

The bolts G and H are staggered lengthwiseof the sills, each of said vbolts passing through suitable alined openings vin the friction members Eiand F and.r inthe shoes VC and D; theopenings in the shoes C and D being longitudinally elongated as indicated at 22-22 in order toprovide for longitudinal movement of saidshoes and D with respectwto thebolts which are: held stationary. The bolts Gr and H areV not only stagl gered as above indicated but are oppositely arrangedso thatA the head 23 of one Vbears on the. outer side of one friction member andthe head 23'fofjthe other bolt'bears on the outer side of the opposite friction member. The extended ends of the bolts@r and H are provided with vnuts 24 at Ytheir outer ends and` washers 25, the springs -l being Amounted on said bolts 'between said washers 25 and inner waf-hers or followers 2G, the latter` being slidable on the bolt G and H, as will be understood. l/Vith vthis particular arrangement of bolts it is evident thatv each spring` willv be compressed a distance equal to twice the-lateral movement of either 'shoe C and D. i

Each vshoe C and vD is provided with a shoulder 27'adapted to engage the adjacent end wedge to limit the action of the vmechanism and preferably each .shoe C .and D will also be provided with a blunt end as indicated at 28 adapted to engage a coperating shoulder 29 on the follower' for the same purpose. lt will also be noted from an inspectionV of Fig. 1 that a small amount of clearance `is left Vbetween the faces 3Q andi-130 of the shoes which is to provide for any `wear on the par-ts and Consequently permit the shoes to approach `each other slightly to compensate therefor.l

From vthe `,preceding description, consideredinronnection with the drawings,it will fbejnoted that Vthe. friction ffaces 16-16 of the wedges are parallel as are also the possible faces 118 of the members E and F. vThese four frictionvr faces form, in effect, a parallelogram of which two sides are parallel to the center line of draft and the other two at an angle thereto so that the parallel'ogram is other than a rectangle. llith this'construction, as-the .end wedges are forced toward each other either under buff or draft, the said `parallelogram will contra-ct length- Vwise but will expand transversely. vBy the use of this arrangement of friction faces, l

am enabled to introduce the additional frici tion faces 17 and 11? on the shoes C and D which l believe to be'broadly new with me and an important advance in the art. Said frictionfaces 17 and-117, it will be noted,

extend in a direction which more or less corresponds to the shorter diagonal of Asaid parallelogram and in actual practice a definite'irelation will be established between the three sets of friction facesrlfand 115; 16

and '116; and 17 and 117, said relation being such that, as the shoes C and D are spread apart laterally 'and also shift lengthwise, the faces 1^? and r11"? will always remain-in frictional engagement. from an inspectionv of Fig. 3, upon relative approachof the followers-asfor instance,

when the front follower is forced rearwardly, the two shoes C and D, while being spread'apart at a uniform rate fromfthc centerline ofthe mechanism will, neverthe less, bev shifted longitudinally at different rates. For instance, when `the gear iscom; pressed in the manner shown Vin Fig. 3, the shoe CA will have moved rearwardly a much lesser distance. than the shoe D and'thisis because` ofthe unsymmetrieal arrangement of the wedge faces '15 and 16. .It isbecause of this different rate of longitudinal travel. of the shoes .C and D that I ami enabled to As will be apparent l retain the friction faces 17 and 117 in fric` tional renWagernent throughout the compresstrength. As will beobvious to those-skilled y in the art, many changes may be madein the Ydetails of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, as' for instance in the arrangement of the bolts which may be consolidated into a single bolt shown in- Fig. 4;, or which may beistaggered vertically instead of horizontally or which may be extendedvertically instead of trans- .isa

versely through the sills. In the latter connection, a corresponding change in the arrangement of wedges and friction shoes would be required although the principle of operation would be identical.

Referring next to the construction shown in Fig. 4. In this construction end combined followers and wedges A and B are employedsubstantially the same as those shown in F ig. 1. Said members A and B are provided with parallel opposed friction faces 216-216 at an angle to the center line of the mechanism and the two shoes C and D are provided with coperating end friction faces B16-316. In this construction, also the shoes C and D are provided with cooperating engaged friction faces 217 and 817 extending in the same general direction as the friction faces 17 and 117. Laterally movable friction members E and F are provided, the same having longitudinally extending friction faces S18- 318 adapted to cooperate with ycorresponding longitudinally extending friction faces 218-218 von `the shoesv C and D.

, 'In the 'construction-of Fig. 4 a single bolt Gr lis employed which is extended at both ends beyond the draft sills and on which are mounted two springs I-I, as clearly indicated. Said members E and F are prevented from longitudinal movement with respect to thef'sills by means corresponding to those shown and described with respec to the other construction.

. In the arrangement of Fig. 4f, however, it will l.be noted that the shoes C and D engagesbut a single wedge and the same do not have the engagement at both ends as in the case of the shoes C and D; The parallelogram arrangement of friction faces isstill retained-'in the sets of friction faces 21d-316; and 218-318 so thatv the maintenance of the friction faces 217 and 317 in engagement with each other obtains throughoutthe compressive stroke. The members E. and F.may lie-beveled at opposite ends as' indicatedy at fOr-.40 in order to engage with the inclined faces-ll-ll of themembers A `and B, when the parts are in normal or full released position so as to insure the proper centeringv of all of the friction elements. w 1

'I have herein shown and described what I now considerl the preferred manner of carrying out the invention but the same is merely illustrative and not'by way of limitationandg l contemplate all changes and modifications that come withinthe scope of the claims appended hereto.,

.I 'claimi y l 1; Ina friction shock absorbing mechanism,the combination with a pair of members relatively linea'lly movable toward and from each other, said members'having parallelopposed friction` faces disposed at an angle other than a right angle to said line of relative movement; of a pair of friction shoes interposed between said members, each shoe having a friction face at one end thereof extending at the same angle to said line of relative movement as the friction faces of said members and in engagement with one of the latter, said shoes having also cooperating engaging friction faces intermediate said members, the said coperating friction faces of the shoes extending at an angle other than a right angle to said line 0f relativemovement and at an acute angle with respect to said friction faces of said members; and spring means acting upon said shoes in a direction at right angles to said line of relative movement and perpendicular to the planes of said friction faces, the friction shoes.l upon relative approach of said members, being shifted transversely of the line of movement of said members and friction being generated between said members and the shoes, and between the shoes.

2.Ina friction Vshock absorbing mechanism, the combination with a pair of end friction members relatively lineally movable toward and from each other; of'a pair of side friction members relatively lineally movable toward and from each other, the members of each of said pairs being provided With parallelly extending opposed inner friction faces, the friction' faces of one pair extending at an angle other than a. right angle to the friction faces of the other pair to form, in effect, a parallelogram of friction faces other than a rectangle a plurality of friction shoes disposedwithin said parallelogram, said shoes having friction faces-engaging with the friction faces of Aall of said members and provided also with friction faces coperable with each other, the Vc'operable friction faces of the shoes extending in-the general direction of the shorter'diagonal of said parallelogram; means adapted to actuate one of said pairs of members to effectrclativc approach thereof; and means for 'yieldingly resisting relative separation of the vother of said pairs of members upon relative approach of said members actuated by said first named means.

3. In' a railway draft rigging, the combination with draftsills, drawbar, yoke-actingmeans, and stop-actingmeans; of a pair of end Amembers relatively movable in the line of draft.y said members having opposed parallel friction faces extending at an angle other than a right angle to the line of draft.; a pairof friction shoes interposed between said members, each shoe having a friction face at one end thereof extending at the same angle to the line of draft and in engagement with one of said end members, said shoes having also coperating engaging friction 'faces intermediate said end members, said coperatng frictionfaoes on the of draft; a pairof friction shoes interposed between said wedges, eachy shoe havinga friction face at one vvend vthereof 'extending' nism adapted for railway draft rig-gings,l

shoes extending at an acute angle with respect to the friction faces of said end members and at an angle other than a right angle to the line of draft; and spring means acting upon said shoes in a direction transverse to the line. of draft whereby, upon actuation of said end members, the friction will beV generated between said members and the shoes and also between the shoes.y j`

4. ln a frictionV shock absorbing mechathe combination with a pair of Y' friction members relatively movable toward and from each other parallel-to the line of draft, said members having opposed parallel friction faces extending at an angle other than aA right angle to th-e line vof draft; of a pair yof friction shoes interposed between-said members, said shoes being relatively movable toward land fromveach other at right angles to the line of draft, each shoe having a friction face at one end engaging the friction face of one of said end members,- said shoes having also cooperating engaging friction faces intermediate said members andextending at an angle other than a right angle to the line of draft; and spring means -co-acting with said shoes to yieldingly resist relative separation thereof upon relative approach of said mem-bers. 5.'In a friction shock absorbing mechanism adapted for use in railway draft rigging, 'the Vcombination with a pair of mem bers relatively movable toward and Yfrom each other parallel to the line of draft, saidy membersl having opposed parallel friction facesv extending jat an angle other than a right angle to said line of draft; of a Vpair of friction shoes` interposed betweenfrsaid members, saidshoes bein-g laterallymovab'le horizontally relatively towardV and from eachother, each shoe having van end friction face coperable with a friction face ofone of said members, said shoes havingalso coopera-ting engaging friction faces intermediate said members, the said cooperating friction faces of the shoes also extendinglat an angle other than a right angle to vtheY line of.

draft and at an acute angle with'respectv to said friction faces `of said members; and springmeans acting in horizontalidirection'to yieldingly resist relative'separation of said friction shoes. Y

6.Y In a railway draft rigging, ,the combination with fdraft sills and stop-acting means; 'of front and rear `followers;` end wedges, each end wedge being formed integrally withithe follower, said wedges having opposed parallel friction faces extending at an angle other than a rightangleto the line at the same angle tothe line of draft -as said friction faces of said wedgesand in engage-y ment with one of the'flatter, said shoes also having cooperating Vengz-tging friction faces Y l(3o-'acting with said shoes'to y-ieldingly resist relative separation thereof upon relativey approach of said followers and end wedges.

7; In' a Afriction shock abso-rbing'mechanism, thecombination witha'pair of members lrelatively lineally movable towardV and from each other, said members having parallel opposed vfriction faces disposed at an angle other than a right angle to said line of relative movement, of a pair Vo-f lfriction shoes interposed betweenisaid members, each Y shoe having a friction face'at one-end thereeffin engagement with'a corresponding face of one -of 'said members, vsaidshoes vhaving also cooperating engaging friction faces intermediate said members, said coopera-ting frictionv faces of the shoes extending at-an angle other than Aa right angle to said line of y'relative movement; and means for 'yieldingly 'resisting-1 relative separation of said shoes, said vmeans including, a rod extending 'throi'igh theshoes at rig'htangles tosaid line of relative movement and on 4,said rod; ,Y y v y In a `railway draftrigging,fthe combination vwith the draft sills Iand lstop-acting means: of a Apair of end members relatively movable in the lline of draft, said members having parallel opposed friction'faces ldisa springmounted v`posed at an angle' otherthan a rightangle to said line of draft; a pair of friction; shoes .ico Y interposed between said end members, said 9. In a railway draft rigging, :the combination'with the draft sills and stop-acting means; Vof a pair of end members' relatively movable in the line 'of draft, said members 'having parallel opposed frictionfaces disiin posed at 'an angle other thana rightrangle f,

tofsai'd line Vof draft; va lpair of frictionshoes interposed betweensaid end members, said shoes being *relatively 'laterally movable horizontally and each provided with'affric- Y tion face at one-end thereof coperable with a corresponding face of one ofrsa'id end engaging friction faces intermediate said members, said-shoes having also cooperating end members; and means for yiel'dingly-re-` VL30 sisting relative separation of said shoes including, a rod extending horizontally through said shoes and draft sills and a spring mounted on said rod, 'said means being held against movement longitudinally of the sills. 1

l0. In a railway draft rigg'in; 2;,the combination with draft sills and stop-acting means; of a pair of end friction members relatively movable in the line of draft; a

n sec-ond pair of friction members extending an vangle other'than a right lengthwise of the sills and relatively movable toward and from each other at right angles to the line of draft, the members of each of said pairs being provided with parallelly extending' opposed inner friction faces, the friction faces of one pair extending at an angle other than a right angle to the friction faces of the otheipair toA form, in effect, a parallelogram of friction faces other than a rectangle; means preventing movement of said second pair of friction members longitudinally of the sills; a plurality of friction shoes disposed within said parallelogram, said shoes having friction faces engaging with the friction faces of all of said members and provided also with friction faces coperable with each other, said coperable friction faces of the shoes extending in the general direction of the shorter diagonal of said parallelogram;

meansfor actuating said end pair of friction members; and means for yieldingly resisting relative separation of the second named pair of members.

l1. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with the draft sills and stop-acting means; of a pair of end friction members relatively movable toward and from each other in the line of draft, said end friction members having friction faces extending at angle relatively to the center line of draft, the stop-acting means limiting the separation of said mem-v bers; a pair of side friction members relatively movable toward and from each other transversely of the sills, said members having friction faces extending parallel to the sills; spring' means arranged to yieldingly resist lateral separation of said last named friction members; means preventing longitudinal movement of said last mentioned friction members; and friction shoes disposed between the end and side friction members, said shoes having friction faces cooperable with the faces of the side and end members and provided also with friction faces coperable with each other.

l2. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with the draft sills and stop-acting means; of front and rear follower-acting means; a pair of friction shoes located between said follower-acting means, said friction shoes having engaging friction faces adapting the shoes to slide relatively to each other, said shoes and follower-acting means having cooperating engaging' friction faces so arranged that, upon relative approach of said follower-acting means,'one shoe will travel parallel to the center line of draft a greater distance than the other shoe relative to the same follower-acting means; and spring means co-acting with said shoes to yieldingly resist relative sliding of the one upon the other when the follower-acting means are actuated to approach each other.

13. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with .the draft sills and stop-acting means; of front and rear end wedges having friction faces extending at an angle other than a right angle relative to the center line of draft; a pair of friction shoes interposed between said end wedges and having friction faces coperable with the latter, said shoes being provided also with cooperating friction faces; a pair of longitudinally extending friction members having longitudinally extending opposed friction faces, said slices having corresponding cooperating longitudinally extending friction faces; and means for yieldingly resisting relative separation of said shoes and relative movement between the shoes and said longitudinally extending friction members, said means including a bolt extending at right angles to the line of draft and a spring thereon.

14;. In a railway draft rigging, the combination withA the draft sills and stop-acting means; of front and rear end wedges having friction faces extending at an angle other than a right angle relative to the center line of draft.; a. pair of friction shoes interposed between said end wedges and having friction faces coperable with the latter, said shoes being provided also with cooperating friction faces; a pair of longitudinally extending friction members having longitudinally extending opposed friction faces, said shoes having corresponding` coperating longitudinally extending friction faces; and means for yieldingly resisting relative separation of said shoes and relative movement between the shoes and said longitudinally extending friction members, said means including a bolt extending at right angles to the line of draft and a spring thereon, said bolt extending through openings provided in said shoes, longitudinally extending friction members and the sills.

l5. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with draft sills and stop-acting means; of front and rear end wedges, each of said wedges having two faces inclined with respect to the center line of draft, the angle between said faces and the center line of draft being di'erent and the two end wedges being oppositely disposed with respect to the center line of draft; a pair of friction shoes interposed between said end wedges, each shoe having a friction face at end coperable with a different friction facer of theother end wedge, said shoe being pro- ,vided also with coperating engaging friction faces; and Vmeans for yieldingly resisting relative separation of the friction shoes in a direction at right angles to the centerv line of draft.

nation with the draft sills and stop-acting means; of end wedges, said wedges being 0f like construction but oppositely and unsymmetrically arranged with, respectV to the center line of draft; friction shoes eachl having friction faces coperable with a friction face of each wedge; and means for yieldingly resisting relative separation. of said shoes in a direction transverse to the line of draft upon relative approach of said end wedges.

A 17. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with the draft sills andstop-acting means; of end wedges, said wedges being of like construction but oppositely and unsymmetrically arranged with respect to thecenter line 0f draft; friction shoes each having friction faces coperable with a friction face of each wedge; and means for'yieldingly resisting relative separation of said shoes in a direction transverse tothe line of draft upon relative approach'V of said end wedges, said friction Ashoes having also cooperable friction faces.

18. wIn a. railway draft rigging, the combination with draft sills and stop-acting means; of front and` rear followers each provided on its inner side with a wedge, said wedge being unsymmetrical with respect to thecenter lineof draftiand oppositely arranged with res ect thereto; a pair o f laterally movable riction members having inlner opposed friction faces parallel to the draft sills; spring means yieldingly resistingV lateral separation of'said friction members; andV friction shoes interposed between said wedges and said laterallyv movable friction members, said shoes having friction tion members.

,wedges being unsymmetrical with respect faces coperable withsaid wedges and fric-z i 50 19. In a railway draft rigging,the combination with draft sills and stop-acting means; of front andreaifollowers each provided on its inner side with a wedge, said to 'the' centerline of dra-ft and oppositely arranged with respect thereto; a pair of lat- 16. In a railway draft rigging,the combierally movable friction members having inner opposed friction faces parallel to the draft sills; spring means yieldingly resisting lateral separation of said friction members; and friction shoes interposed between said wedges and said laterally movable friction members, Vsaid shoes Vhaving friction faces coperable with saidwedges yand friction members, said shoes having-also coperat-y ing frictionV faces. y .Y 20. Ina railway draft rigging, the combination with draft sills and stop-acting means; of front and rear followers each provided on its, inner side with a wedge, said wedges: being yunsymmetrical with respect to the center line of draft and oppositely ar-V rangedwith respect thereto; a pair of laterally movable `friction membershaving in- 7 5 ner opposed friction faces parallel to the draft sills ;1,jspring means yieldingly resist ing lateral separation of said friction members; and friction shoes interposed between said wedges and said laterallyl movable fric- 80 tion members, said shoes having friction faces coperable with said wedges and friction members-said shoeshavingl also cooperating friction faces, said means for yieldingly resisting lateral separation of 85 said` friction members including abolt eX- tending transversely through the said frictioninembers,"shoes andsills, and a4 spring mounted on said bolt. i

In witness that I claim the foregoing I 90 have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th,

day of Feb.v 1920. Y p l. s l Y y vQIOIIY F.V OC'ONNOR.V

llVitness: p Y i CARRni GAiLiNe. 

